National Election

▪ 1999

      The most surprising result of the national election in Germany on Sept. 27, 1998, was the magnitude of the electoral shift. The left-of-centre Social Democratic Party (SPD), led by Gerhard Schröder (see BIOGRAPHIES (Schroder, Gerhard )) and campaigning on pledges to reduce unemployment and increase social justice for all Germans, received 40.9% of the vote, an increase of 4.5% over 1994. The centre-right Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), led by long-term Chancellor Helmut Kohl, received 35.1%, a decrease of 6.2% from 1994. The Greens, campaigning on environmental issues, won 6.7%, a decline of 0.06% from 1994. The centre Free Democratic Party (FDP) gained 6.2%, a loss of 0.07% from 1994, and the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) received 5.1%, a gain of 0.07%. Voter participation was 82.3%, a gain of 3.3% over 1994. The apportionment of parliamentary seats was as follows: SPD 298 (+46), CDU/CSU 245 (-49), Greens 47 (-2), FDP 44 (-3), and PDS 35 (+5).

      For the first time since 1972, the SPD formed the strongest group in the Bundestag. The CDU/CSU suffered its worst showing ever, losing 109 electoral districts, a full one-third of the country's total, to the SPD. The CDU/CSU also lost heavily in the state elections. Of the 16 state governments, the CDU/CSU won in only three: Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and Saxony. In Thuringia, Berlin, and Bremen, the CDU shared power in coalition with the SPD. Also for the first time since the early 1950s, there were five groups in the Bundestag. Insofar as candidates for coalition were concerned, the CDU/CSU was at a disadvantage, with only the FDP an acceptable partner.

GEORGE BAILEY

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